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The LGBT rights movement has made extraordinary progress in just the past few years, let alone the past 11 years since Massachusetts became the first state to usher in marriage equality. Now, of course, marriage equality is the law of the land from sea to shining sea. Many people have put the rainbow flags away, thinking the fight for full equality is over. The reality is though, the fight is far from over.

“Now you can see what seemed an impossible victory in 2003 and now seeming almost inevitable in 2015 and I think that’s kind of the theme of our work going forward: what are those kind of impossible dreams we can think of right now that we can make inevitable in five, ten, fifteen years,” Wu said.

In the interview, Wu also noted the role litigation plays in the LGBT rights movement, not only as a legal remedy to discrimination, but also as a tool to educate Americans.

“Litigation is actually a great vehicle for education because what we know is that the public can understand and really sympathize with stories of harm. When you have litigation, you generally have a plaintiff who is harmed, so we always try to, when appropriate, use our plaintiffs as a way of educating.”

After marriage equality, what are the issues the LGBT community faces? Where are the legal efforts in the movement taking place and where will they head in the future? View the full interview with Janson Wu below.

Calling balls and strikes, is that what marriage equality will come down to? Arguably one of the more conservative Supreme Court’s in modern history has chosen to wade into a major equality battle, and its Chief Justice once said that judging is akin in some ways to being a baseball umpire.

Of course since that statement during his confirmation hearings in 2005, the Roberts Court has dealt with matters far weightier than those found on a baseball field. The Court has also shown that judging is a good bit more complicated. Have you read all the opinions, concurring opinions and dissents in the Court’s actions this year on the landmark health care reform law?

Janson Wu, a staff attorney for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), noted some concern, telling ACSBlog, “The fact that the Court decided to hear both a challenge to DOMA and Proposition 8 presents obvious opportunities and risks. All of us fighting for LGBT rights obviously hope for the best case scenario and realize that there is so much work to make that happen. Now is not the time to wait and see how the Court decides. Instead, it is more important than ever for use to continue to achieve victories at both the state and federal level in the next few months, before the Supreme Court decides these cases.”

While those pushing for marriage equality are rooting for the demise of DOMA, a blatantly discriminatory law that has treated same-sex couples as second class citizens denying them scores of federal benefits that their straight counterparts enjoy or take for granted, others are concerned about a potentially disastrous ruling in the Proposition 8 case.

Besides being the first federal appeals court to invalidate the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), at least one blogger says it is noteworthy because two of the federal appeals court judges are Republican appointees. The unanimous court opinion upholding a lower district court decision, found DOMA advanced disparate treatment of same-sex couples and interfered with the right of states to regulate marriage.

In Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that although DOMA does not invalidate same-sex marriages recognized in a growing number of states, “its adverse consequences for such a choice are considerable. Notably, it prevents same-sex married couples from filing joint federal tax retruns, which can lessen tax burdens, and prevents the surviving spouse of a same-sex marriage from collecting Social Security survivor benefits. DOMA also leaves federal employees unable to share their health insurance and certain other medical benefits with same-sex spouses.”

The First Circuit panel continued that the federal law, enacted by President Bill Clinton, works “to the disadvantage of same-sex married couples in the half dozen or so states that permit same-sex marriage. The number of couples thus affected is estimated at more than 100,000.” [Maryland recently joined seven other states and the District of Columbia in recognizing same-sex marriage.]

The public interest group, GLAD brought the case, representing seven Massachusetts same-sex couples and three surviving spouses to block the federal government from enforcing DOMA, which would block the couples from benefits available to straight married couples in the state. GLAD was founded in 1978 to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression, argued that DOMA violates the equal protection rights of same-sex couples.

One of the nation's leading civil rights attorneys, Mary Bonauto, covered some of the recent history of advancing equality for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons (LGBT community) at a recent Constitution Day celebration hosted by the ACS Boston Lawyer Chapter. Although great strides for equality have been made, much work remains to be done Bonauto told the gathering at WilmerHale LLP in Boston.

Bonauto (pictured) was the first full time attorney for the Gay & lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and in 1990 she recounted that a "key priority was enforcing the Massachusetts anti-discrimination law," which one of two laws in the nation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations.

Bonauto, now GLAD's Civil Rights Project Director, said:

At that time, there were plenty of people fired from their jobs the minute there was a sense that they might be gay or lesbian .... One case involved two women in Lynn who went used car shopping together. When the salesman realized they were a couple, he became irate, pulled an antenna off of a car, and went after them with it. So much for equal treatment in a place of public accommodation.

Today, there is still discrimination, far less blatant now, and 21 states - not two - forbid it. Twelve of those states also forbid discrimination based on gender identity. We still need a national law to set a standard of fairness, but the ‘Employment Non-Discrimination Act' (ENDA) is stymied in Congress.

Bonauto also touched upon the slightly increased acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships and the reaction it has caused among some Christian right organizations. Bonauto noted that a recent Gallup reveals that "a majority of people find ‘gay/lesbian relations' acceptable morally, whereas 43 percent do not."

"But," she continued, "with change afoot, some would have you believe that gay people are tormenting those with religious objections to gay people, and that idea has gained some traction at the Supreme Court. How do we work out our co-existence when an interesting assortment of intellectuals, advocacy groups and faith leaders have joined the 2009 ‘Manhattan Declaration' vowing disobedience to any secular authority requiring that gay people and their relationships be treated as morally equivalent to others? How far should religious liberty exemptions go?"

A federal judge ruled today that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional on a number of fronts. U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro of Boston ruled that DOMA, signed into law by President Clinton, interferes with the right of states to define marriage and violates the Constitution's equal protection clause, The Associated Press reports.

"The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid," Tauro wrote.

In a press statement, Mary Bonauto (pictured), GLAD's Civil Rights Project Director, who argued the case, said, "I'm pleased that Judge Tauro recognized that married same-sex couples and surviving spouses have been seriously harmed by DOMA and that the plaintiffs deserve the same opportunities to care and provide for each other and for their children that other families enjoy. This ruling will make a real difference for countless families in Massachusetts."

GLAD notes that the federal government has 60 days to decide whether to appeal Tauro's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Judge Tauro's decision is available here.